Burnt Orange Heresy

USA 2019. dir. Giuseppe Capotondi. 98 mins.

Available on DVD and Bluray

Reviewer Ed Farolan

Based on the novel with the same title by Charles Willeford, there´s something lacking in this film, particularly the ending. We're left hanging and perplexed at the end: how did that portrait drawing in blue by Jerome Debney (Donald Sutherland) of Berenice Hollis (Elizabeth Debicki) end up in Duluth, Minnesota?  The director and screenwriter (Scott Smith) leave the audience wondering and letting them fill in the gaps. I should read the original novel and see what really transpired.

Hired to steal a rare painting by art dealer Joseph Cassidy (Mick Jagger) from Debney, one of the most enigmatic painters of all time, an ambitious and amoral art critic, James Figueras (Claes Bang) becomes consumed by his own greed, and the situation goes out of control. The film's title derives from the name of the painting which Figueras supposedly steals.

The film is a noir thriller that doesn't quite make it to standard. Director Capotondi should take a few more lessons from Hitchcock's movies.

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